11/19/09

I started Olive Kitteridge with great skepticism: a series of short stories as a novel did not sound like a smooth, cohesive story. However, within a dozen pages I was glad it was nearly midnight because I would have called Carole to ask her why she hadn't forced me to start the book sooner.

Elizabeth Strout creates an incredible level of intimacy necessary for this kind of tale, where readers meet the title character through rumor, reputation, association and in person. She is not all that likable, especially at first; in fact, throughout "Pharmacy," I actively wondered why the gentle and loving Henry was married to her in the first place. However, to be fair, she was seen through the filter of his perception, and there was a very stark contrast between his life at the pharmacy and his life at home.

Not until the second story, "Incoming Tide," did I actually find any redemptive, or even likable, qualities to Olive. It was then, when a reader could see her in her own terms, did she start to make sense. She was no longer distorted by the prism of her home life; we could see the bigger picture.

It was in this second story that I decided I really, really liked Olive. As the stories progressed, readers witnessed the ebb and flow of her ideas, her emotions, her generosity, her fears, her defenses — sometimes through the spectrum of the others around her, sometimes through her own perspective.

Olive is not central to every story. While sometimes she is a major character, other times she is in the distance, someone another resident of Crosby, Maine, sees walking across the street, or remembers from a previous encounter.

The others we meet in Crosby are interesting, delightful, compelling, vexing, heartbreaking, heartbroken, misunderstood, self-absorbed, confused, struggling. Denise is a waif of a girl who faces a life she never expected or would have chosen. Kevin never really left Crosby. Harmon's entry into middle age hasn't brought with it the riches he expected. Nina hated Muffin Luke, but for all of the wrong reasons. Christopher — well, Christopher is much like his mother, complex and initially unlikeable. I remain ambivalent about this character, more so than others who surprised and discomfited me, like Ann Kitteridge or Louise Larkin.

I was intrigued by the relationships, especially the marriages. Olive's relationship with Henry intrigued me. I've always been fascinated by what makes a marriage, and having that insight into Olive and Henry's relationship was fascinating. As the story evolved, I didn't always understand what made them work together, but they did. In contrast, "Winter Concert" showed a "perfect" marriage that was so different, and yet perhaps not as successful as Olive and Henry's; the Kitteridges survived "A Different Road," and I wonder if Bob and Jane could have done the same. There were other marriages, successful and/or not: Harmon and Bonnie, Chris and Suzanne, Chris and Ann, and a few we experience at or after the "end." (As we learn in Crosby, death does not always bring a marriage to a close.)

All 13 stories are told in chronological order, which I liked. Some stories were longer than others, but the shorter ones were no less important; some connections require no more than a skip and no preamble. It's not a traditional novel, so not all of the stories smoothly flow into each other, but each has its place and makes sense in the quilt Strout stitched together.

11/8/09

Some people cannot keep the secrets of some classics, as though they expire after a certain period of time. Right before I watched Citizen Kane for the first time in 1982, I was asked, "You know Rosebud is [SPOILER], right?" I responded, "Well, I do now."

So I approached Rebecca like reading it was a state secret (except to Carole, who was her fabulous no-giveaway self, as I knew she would be). No bonehead was going to tell me about Daphne du Maurier's "Rosebud," so I started the novel with no information other than the brief and completely innocuous summary on the back of the 1970s-era paperback I picked up at the thrift store.

Thank heavens. There were so many great elements I would have been quite vexed to have had any of them spoiled.

The summary is simple: a young woman is rescued from a life as a "traveling companion" (a.k.a. maid) to the American bore Mrs. Van Hopper by Maxim de Winter, who owns the legendary English estate Manderley. There in the halls of Manderley the young bride faces a more complex and frightening future than Mrs. Van Hopper: that of being the second Mrs. de Winter. The first, you see, was Rebecca, a tall, beautiful, popular, graceful woman — all qualities the second Mrs. de Winter honestly felt she lacked.

The story is told by this young woman, whose new husband is more than twice her age and who hasn't as much professed love as asked her to join him in his life. After a quick marriage and honeymoon abroad, she comes "home" to an estate of which she has heard, but it's grander than her wildest dreams.

Maxim is not the most attentive of men and the second Mrs. de Winter is an inexperienced young lady left her to her own devices — and to those of Mrs. Danvers, who served as Rebecca's personal maid who also ran the household under Rebecca's exacting eye. Frith, the butler, addresses the young bride as "Madam" and directs her by stating what "Mrs. de Winter" would have done.

Maxim is not only inattentive, he refuses to run Manderley as it had been in the past, rejecting the idea of lavish parties and other entertainment that was to have gone on with Rebecca. The second Mrs. de Winter is left to decide what this means for her as a wife and mistress.

The story is told by the second Mrs. de Winter, which provides a clear eye to established society and history. It is new to her, so it's new to us. Each piece of information — how Maxim acts, how Mrs. Danvers lurks, how Frith directs the ingenue — offers clues to the drama with subtle, caressing tension that entraps readers. We know we're toeing close to the edge of disaster with the second Mrs. de Winter, and yet we can't look away because we really don't want to leave her alone at Manderley, not like this. What is Mrs. Danvers doing in the west wing? Why is Jack's visit so disturbing? Why would Maxim refuse to follow the dog down the path to the beach? What is the draw of Rebecca, what is her secret?

The story is told at first as a mix of the past and present, with clues that suggest the de Winters are not presently at Manderley, that mention of this beloved home is painful. Once the second Mrs. de Winter arrives at Manderley, the story and the reader remain there with her.

And remain we must, until the final pages with an end that I found spectacular and completely fitting to the story.

Please read this, especially if you plan to watch the movie. Read the book first — let du Maurier tell you her story, then allow Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier (or, later, Emilia Fox and Charles Dance) to perform it for you.

And if anyone opens their mouth to discuss the book, ask them to wait. You will want to talk about this story, if only to remind yourself that it is, after all, only fiction.

11/4/09

"Classics" brings up the idea of dust, yellowed pages and hidden treasures — to bibliophiles, at least. I think of people greeting the ships at the docks, asking if Little Dorritt was still alive. I think of long skirts, scullery maids, post-World War II smoke curling up into a haze. I think of manners, fear, control and society. I think of those who came before and what reading meant to them.

So I picked up Rebecca as my ode to classics. Who hasn't heard the opening line of the book, wondered what it meant, felt sorry for the young bride trying to find her way in a truly unknown landscape, haunted by the image of a woman who came before her?

I am taking my time with this one, knowing that once I'm done I can't say I've never read it. It's like pulling a ribbon off slowly, wondering what may be hidden under the wrapping. I am enjoying it, and the leisure with which I am consuming it is rather decadent and delicious.

I have a few others on my list, and I hope to consume them with the same leisure and joy (in no particular order):

Madame Bovary — anything considered obscene in 19th century France has to be worth a gander!

A Christmas Carol — Despite the enjoyable film adaptations of the past and present, nothing rings as true as Dickens' own words.

Dracula — it will give me a reason to go to the Rosenbach Museum to see, perhaps to touch, Bram Stoker's outline and notes for his novel. (It was closed for renovation when I last tried to visit.) (The museum, that is.)

What classics have you enjoyed that aren't on this list? Which would you recommend?

Bookish Terms

[on the] bookshelf: books Carole and Chris are reading

Author Fatigue: after reading too many books in a row by a single author, the books all start to read the same: same rhythm, same characters, same situations — and you become so sorry that you did such a thing that you take a loooooooong break from said author

Author Repeatitis: symptoms include feelings of euphoria after reading a book, and — wanting to repeat the "high" — a strong desire to go out and read another book by the same author, only to suffer feelings of crushing disappointment when the story just doesn't measure up to expectations

Fluff 'n Trash™: very light reading; expected to have little or no redeeming value except in the pure unadulterated pleasure of reading it

Guy Buy™: the antithesis of "chick lit," or books tailored to men

L3: Lunchroom Lending Library, which Chris set up at work and serves as yet one more reason to buy way too many books

library read: a book you enjoyed enough to read, but not enough to own and share with others